Formaldehyde in Perspective

Formaldehyde is naturally present in wood, food, the air, even inside us. It also is a commonly used building block chemical in various materials including resins and adhesives. Here are some facts that may help put formaldehyde-based resin systems into context.

• The average person produces about 1.5 ounces of formaldehyde each day in the ordinary course of living. This is 16,000 times more than all the wood products in a typical home combined.
  
  
• Each day, 1 to 2 parts per million (ppm) of formaldehyde circulate through the blood of the average human being. This is 45 times more than circulates through the typical house.
  
  
• We inhale approximately 1.5 milligrams of formaldehyde daily from wood products. We eat about that much for lunch.
  
  
• Formaldehyde does not accumulate in the environment or within people, as it quickly breaks down in the atmosphere and the body. Highly efficient enzymes allow us to safely process low levels of formaldehyde we produce internally as well as the small amounts that we ingest and inhale.